Benjamin Austin was fourteen when he settled with his family in Portage in 1833. At sixteen he moved to Kalamazoo to learn tin smithing and watch making. As he grew older, he turned to the dry goods business and then to making spring wagons in 1852. By 1860, he was one of Kalamazoo's wealthiest residents (listed in the 1860 Census with $30,000 real and $30,000 personal property). In 1846, Austin owned a village lot on the corner of Rose and Lovell. Sometime that year or early the next, he built a home for himself which he occupied until he moved to a farm on West Michigan Avenue (then called the "Territorial Road") in the 1850's. During the Civil War, Dr. Joseph Sill bought the property. He is said to have moved the Austin House in order to put up the "Sill Terrace" luxury apartments on the corner lot [now the Prange Building]. There is some reason to believe that Sill had the Austin house moved to the present site, 226 Lovell, but this has not been adequately documented.

Joseph Sill was 24 when he opened Kalamazoo's first dental parlor in 1845-45. He soon saved enough to finish his medical training at the University of New York in 1847. He practiced elsewhere until 1851 when he began a 40-year practice as a "Homeopathist." He lived on in Kalamazoo until his death in 1907. Along the way, Sill speculated in Pennsylvania oil in the 1860's, and in real estate and mining stock. He also served as a temperance lecturer and as a trustee of what became Kalamazoo College.

While the exact date of this building is not established, the building stands as a fine example of the Greek Revival Style. The entryway, in particular, shows the decided influence of architectural plates in popular "builder's handbooks" of the period. The fluted Ionic columns and paneled entry are particularly well executed.

Maps:

1853 - B. Austin lot
1861 - House on corner, nothing on site
1873 - house shows on site

This report was converted from a typewritten document to a digital text document in September 2004. Other than punctuation and spelling corrections, and the addition of BOLD type site address and names, no changes were made. Minor formatting changes were made for use on this website, but the text was not altered. Original survey dated 1973.